3 Tricks to eat healthy and live longer

The YOU Docs

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Photo By Greg Baker/STF

Workers place partially assembled electronic cigarettes in a tray after testing their amber LED lights at the Ruyan factory in Tianjin, China, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009. The battery-powered products, which resemble real cigarettes but produce a fine nicotine spray absorbed quickly and directly by the lungs, are gaining ground in America and Europe, and have even made a dent in China, home to 350 million smokers - the world's biggest tobacco market. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)

Photo By Greg Baker/STF

A worker holds a partially assembled electronic cigarette during testing at the Ruyan factory in Tianjin, China, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009. The battery-powered products, which resemble real cigarettes but produce a fine nicotine mist absorbed quickly and directly by the lungs, are gaining ground in America and Europe, and have even made a dent in China, home to 350 million smokers - the world's biggest tobacco market. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)

Ending each day with a big bowl of ice cream and a side of Oreos may sound great, but routinely eating lots of high-fat dairy foods puts your risk of dying young 40 percent higher than that of people who eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, poultry and low-fat dairy.

Those stats come from a new study that concludes a healthy diet makes you feel better and live longer. But if knowing meant doing, we'd all drop from a size 16 to a 6 and stay there. Here are three easy ways to help you with the "doing" part:

3 Eat healthy fats first: About 20 minutes before a meal, have six walnuts, 12 almonds or 20 peanuts (only 60-75 calories). These crunchy bundles of heart-healthy fats, protein and fiber take the edge off so you eat less.

Find the doctor of your dreams

Finding a spouse or a job is easy compared to finding the right doctor. So if a change in insurance or a desire for a different bedside manner has sent you physician shopping, use this list to make the search easier:

Ask: Is the doctor accepting new patients?

Good answer: "Yes," or "possibly," or even "not right now." You want a busy doc with plenty of patients.

Ask: Is this doctor working primarily in management?

Good answer: "No, she only sees patients," or "yes, but she sees patients at least one day a week." You don't want someone who "sees patients when she can." A "chief" who's managing the careers of 90 people might have a difficult time making your care her top priority.

Ask:Which types of patients does the doctor usually see?

Good answer:Listen for descriptions of people your age and with your concerns.

Ask: In the office, does the doctor practice alone or with other physicians?

Good answer:With other physicians who have equally strong credentials.

Prevention may be cure

Q: What do you think about those e-cigarettes that are supposed to help you quit smoking?

- Liza, Medford Lakes, N.J.

A: We normally cheer anything that can help you kick butts, but we're urging a bit of caution about electronic cigarettes, or "nicotine delivery devices." E-cigs look like cigarettes and come in cute colors and wild flavors, such as chocolate, cherry and cigar. They use batteries to vaporize a nicotine/propylene glycol solution. You inhale - or "vape" - a shot of nicotine that's supposed to be a tiny fraction of what's in tobacco products. We're big boosters of nicotine patches, gum and lozenges to help get you off cigs. However, one study found that the amount of nicotine released by e-cigs varies from 6 mg to 24 mg. (The average cigarette contains 10 mg.) Just be aware that you may get more nicotine than you think.

One thing that troubles us is that you apparently get some of the toxin propylene glycol. Though the risks may be slight and the devices are promising, using them makes you a guinea pig in an unofficial market test of an unregulated product.